


College

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22593763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex gets the flu in college, and doesn't want to miss class.
Kudos: 5





	College

“What a long day,” Alex mumbled to himself as he unlocked the door to his dorm. Alex had been up since about six thirty in the morning, went to his eight AM class, then his English class, where his professor had called him out unexpectedly. After coming off of the anxiety attack that English had given him, he went to the campus gym with a friend, and had generally felt worn out ever since.   
He’d just come back for the night from a campus event that he’d signed up for, and was feeling physically exhausted, a bit chilly, and his back was hurting him some. As much as he wanted to just crash for the night, he knew that he had to get some homework done for the classes that he would have the next day, so he wrapped a throw blanket around his shoulders, and took a seat at his desk.   
He pulled out his planner out of his backpack, and flipped it to the current date, rolling his eyes when he saw how much homework he had to get done. There was an assignment in every class, and he really didn’t have the motivation to do any of it. He decided to start with what would seemingly be the easiest, so he pulled out his literature textbook. And flipped it to the first of two stories that he’d been assigned to read.   
As he speed read it, he started to develop a headache, so he leaned his head into his hand, making him realize that he felt a bit warm. Alex rolled his eyes, he just couldn’t be getting sick, he didn’t have the time for that.   
As he continued to read the story, he started to develop a cough that stung at his throat, making him cringe some. He was having a particularly bad coughing fit when the door to the room opened, and his roommate, Jack, walked in.  
“Man, you don’t sound good, are you sick?” Jack asked, standing next to Alex with a hand to his back as Alex started to calm down some.   
“I don’t know, but I refuse to get sick. I’ve never missed class, and I’m not starting that now,” Alex stated, his voice raspy.  
“Well, don’t overwork yourself, man. if you miss, the world won’t end,” Jack assured, taking a seat at his desk.  
“That’s debatable, man. I really want to get in bed and watch a movie on my laptop, but I have to get some homework done,” Alex explained, grabbing his planner again.  
“Well, do you need to get it all done tonight, or can some of it wait? I think you should focus on getting some rest, so this doesn’t turn into something bad,” Jack advised.  
“Well, not many of my assignments are actually due tomorrow, but I have to send an email to a mentor in my field of interest that I got paired with to introduce myself, and I really need to read a second story for my English class, but I have a headache that’s making it hard to concentrate on reading anything,” Alex explained.  
“Well, I’m not going to tell you what to do, but just be smart, man,” Jack said, opening up his laptop. Alex looked into his planner again and decided that most of his work could probably wait. It was already after eight thirty, and he’d been trying to get some work done for over an hour, and it hadn’t been going very well, so Alex decided that he’d send the email that he had to write, then call it a night.   
He opened up his email and typed in the address of the person he was supposed to be sending it to. He’d been paired with someone in his field and was told to send that person an email giving a brief summary on himself, so he quickly typed up an email doing that. It wasn’t a great email, but the pounding in his head and the aches in his body were taking away any motivation he had to really try at this, so he decided that it was good enough, and hit send.   
Alex shut his laptop, then packed his backpack with what he’d need for his next day of classes. He got up and went to his dresser, and grabbed some PJs, which ended up being sweats and a hoodie, since he was still having chills.  
“I think I’m going to shower then call it a night. I’m really not feeling great, so I’m thinking that maybe I can just get a really good night sleep tonight, then be fine for tomorrow,” Alex explained with a cough.  
“I think that’s a good idea. Hopefully, the shower will help some,” Jack said, sounding as concerned as he felt.  
“I hope so. I think I’m going to take a long shower, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to hog the bathroom,” Alex replied.  
“Take all of the time you need, it’s all good, man,” Jack replied.  
“Thanks, dude. I’ll be back,” Alex said, slowly making his way into the bathroom. After turning on the water, Alex looked at himself in the mirror. Sure, he looked a bit pale aside from his flushed cheeks, but there was no way that he was getting sick, right?   
He hadn’t been sick in years, there was just no way that it was possible for it to be happening now. He put a hand to his forehead, noticing that it felt a bit warm, but he decided that he was probably just overthinking everything.   
When Alex finally got into the shower, he noticed that the water pressure was hurting him some, due to the worsening aches in his body. Eventually, the water started to feel nice, so he stood in the center of the shower, not wanting to get out.   
After a few more minutes, he turned off the water, and felt a chill go through him as he stepped out of the shower. Alex quickly got dressed, then decided that he wanted tea, so he went to his drawer and got a measuring cup so he could heat up some water.  
“What’re you making?” Jack asked as Alex put the measuring cup into the microwave.  
“I’m going to make some tea. I think I’m going to watch something in bed, too. I just don’t want to be up anymore today,” Alex explained, grabbing a mug and a teabag.  
“That’s a good idea, hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning,” Jack replied.  
“I sure fucking hope so,” Alex stated as he fixed his cup of tea. He grabbed his laptop, and set himself up in his bed, putting two blankets over himself in attempt to combat his chills. After plugging in his headphones, Alex put on South Park.   
As he tried to watch his show, he started to text back and forth with his mom, listing off his symptoms, hoping to figure out what was wrong with him. Thought it was pretty obvious that he was coming down with something, Alex still refused to believe that it was happening. As time passed, Alex’s coughing got worse, making his throat hurt even more.   
Even though Jack still had a decent amount of work to get done for his art class, he decided to call it a night about twenty minutes after Alex had gotten into bed, figuring that Alex would want the light off as soon as possible. As Jack changed into his PJs, Alex put his laptop on his desk, deciding that trying to sleep would be a good idea. Jack turned out the overhead light as they both climbed into their beds.   
Alex was still texting with his mom, updating her as he continued to feel worse. Eventually, Alex put his phone down and shut his eyes before trying to find a position that was decently comfortable, despite his aches. Suddenly, there was a blaring sound that made Alex open his eyes and put a hand to his head.  
“What the fuck?” Alex groaned, starting to cough again.  
“I guess we have to get outside, man,” Jack said, getting out of his bed.  
“The night I’m having chills, we have to go stand outside for who knows how long in thirty-degree weather, all because some freshman probably forgot to put the water in their Easy Mac, what the fuck?” Alex asked as he slowly got up from his bed. He walked over to his closet, and sild on a pair of sneakers, then put on his thick winter coat.  
“That really sucks, man. Hopefully, it won’t last too long,” Jack said, leading the two of them out of their room and down the two flights of stairs to the ground floor. Alex walked through the front door of the dorm, wrapping himself into a tight hug as he started to shiver much more.  
“I hate this, Jack. This is the worst night ever,” Alex said through chattering teeth.  
“You look pretty miserable, dude. Hopefully this will be over soon,” Jack tried.  
“I hope so. I feel like shit and standing out here is making it so much worse,” Alex said, still trying to hug himself tighter. Jack gave his friend a sympathetic look, unsure of what he could say to make this better for Alex.   
After twenty-three painfully cold minutes, everyone was allowed to go back inside. Alex practically sprinted back upstairs, Jack following closely behind him.  
“That was the worst thing ever,” Alex groaned as the two of them walked back into their room.  
“I can only imagine how much worse you feel now. Why don’t you try to get some sleep, and I’ll do what I can to help you in the morning,” Jack suggested as they got back into their beds.  
“That’s really nice of you, thanks, Jack,” Alex replied.  
“No problem, dude. Now, get some rest,” Jack stated. Alex turned to face the wall, attempting to find a decently comfortable position to sleep in with his aches. Eventually, Alex found a position that he deemed to be good enough, and shut his eyes, able to drift off in minutes.  
\---------------------  
“I hate to say this, Alex, but you tested positive for the flu. It’s Wednesday, so you shouldn’t be going back to class until Monday. Get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids, and I’ll write you an excuse note for your professors. Some ask for them, others don’t,” the school nurse explained, starting Alex’s excuse note.  
“Thank you,” Alex said with a cough.  
“Here’s that note, I hope you feel better soon, Alex,” the nurse said, leaving the examination room.  
“I’m sorry you have the flu, man,” Jack said, walking over to where Alex was sitting.  
“Well, I definitely feel like I had the flu. Thanks for skipping class to come here with me,” Alex said, smiling some.  
“Absolutely, man, I wouldn’t just leave you to fend for yourself like this. I guess we should get you back to the dorm so you can rest up. I didn’t tell you this, but I got up super early to go to the campus grocery store to get you some soup and popsicles. I kind of figured that you had the flu, so I wanted to help you be prepared,” Jack explained.  
“Oh wow, you didn’t have to go through all of that trouble for me, but I really appreciate it. I’ll pay you back when we get to the dorm,” Alex said, letting Jack lead him out of the clinic and over to his car.  
“Don’t worry about that, it’s on me,” Jack insisted, starting up his car.  
“Are you sure, man?” Alex asked.  
“Absolutely, you just focus on getting better. I’ll stay with you in the dorm today so I can take care of you and help you out,” Jack decided.  
“I don’t want you to miss more class because of me,” Alex replied.  
“I just have art history, and that class is boring as hell, so I really don’t mind. I just want to help you; you seem pretty miserable, so I just want to do what I can to make all of this a little easier on you,” Jack replied, pulling into a parking spot in front of their dorm.  
“You’re the best roommate and friend ever,” Alex said with a smile.  
“I try to be! Let’s get you upstairs,” Jack said, leading Alex inside and to the elevator. They got off at the fifth floor, then walked down the hallway to their room. Alex changed back into his PJs, then got into his bed.  
“Eat this popsicle, you need fluids, and it’ll help to lower your fever some. I think that nurse said it was 102.8, so let’s try to make it less insanely high,” Jack said, handing Alex a popsicle.   
“Thanks, Jack,” Alex said, starting to eat the popsicle.   
“How’re you feeling?” Jack asked, turning on the TV.  
“Cold, achy and miserable,” Alex said with a cough.  
“I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll put on a movie for us, hopefully you’ll fall asleep to it once you’re done with that popsicle,” Jack said, selecting the first Hangover movie.  
“Thanks for being willing to take care of me,” Alex stated.  
“Of course, man, that’s what friends are for,” Jack said, making them both smile. Once Alex finished his popsicle, he fell asleep very quickly. Jack went to his classes on Thursday and Friday but spent all of the time he wasn’t in class taking care of Alex.   
On Monday, Alex was able to go bac to class, which he couldn’t have been happier about. Though he hated having the flu, he was grateful to have such a great roommate and best friend who made it all a little bit better.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So, I still have two requests to get done, but I had this idea and wanted to go ahead and write it! This is almost entirely based on when I had the flu last week. The fire drill thing actually happened, and that's what prompted me to write this story! I actually went back home, but I wanted to keep this story about Alex and Jack as roommates, so I changed it up from my situation some. (Though, I made Jack's classes extremely similar to that of my actual roommate's!). I plan on writing at least one of the two requests tonight so I can get it up tomorrow! I'm just about out of requests, so please send in ideas if you've got them! Thank you guys so much for reading, it really does mean so much to me. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
